Scoundrels – #9

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Not content with pretending to be other animals, some insects have taken to mimicking inanimate objects, namely various parts of plants. Among the most adept plant mimickers are the insects known as treehoppers (membracids) and leafhoppers (cicadellids) – in at #9 in the scoundrel chart. Take a look at the photo below.

This is a treehopper and what better way to dupe your enemies into leaving you alone by pretending to be a withered, partially chewed leaf. No insect predator worth its salt is going to look twice at a gnawed bit of vegetation, so the treehopper can sit in the open in the relative safety.

The treehoppers have really gone to town with plant mimicry and there are very few parts of plants they don’t have a go at pretending to be:

There are buds and blisters…

Flowers and thorns…

And Christ knows what this is supposed to be…